Book of Common Prayer
Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
37 (A)Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not (B)envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will (C)wither quickly like the grass
And (D)fade like the green herb.
3 (E)Trust in the Lord and do good;
(F)Dwell in the land and [a](G)cultivate faithfulness.
4 (H)Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will (I)give you the desires of your heart.
5 (J)Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth (K)your righteousness as the light
And your judgment (L)as the noonday.
7 [b]Rest in the Lord and (M)wait [c]patiently for Him;
(N)Do not fret because of him who (O)prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and (P)forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For (Q)evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will (R)inherit the land.
10 Yet (S)a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for (T)his place and he will not be there.
11 But (U)the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in (V)abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked (W)plots against the righteous
And (X)gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord (Y)laughs at him,
For He sees (Z)his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and (AA)bent their bow
To cast down the (AB)afflicted and the needy,
To (AC)slay those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their (AD)bows will be broken.
16 (AE)Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the (AF)arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord (AG)sustains the righteous.
18 The Lord (AH)knows the days of the [d]blameless,
And their (AI)inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And (AJ)in the days of famine they will have abundance.
20 But the (AK)wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [e]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—(AL)like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous (AM)is gracious and gives.
22 For (AN)those blessed by Him will (AO)inherit the land,
But those (AP)cursed by Him will be cut off.
23 (AQ)The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He (AR)delights in his way.
24 When (AS)he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because (AT)the Lord is the One [f]who holds his hand.
25 I have been young and now I am old,
Yet (AU)I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or (AV)his [g]descendants begging bread.
26 All day long (AW)he is gracious and lends,
And (AX)his [h]descendants are a blessing.
27 (AY)Depart from evil and do good,
[i]So you will abide (AZ)forever.
28 For the Lord (BA)loves [j]justice
And (BB)does not forsake His godly ones;
They are (BC)preserved forever,
But the [k](BD)descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will (BE)inherit the land
And (BF)dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous (BG)utters wisdom,
And his tongue (BH)speaks justice.
31 The (BI)law of his God is in his heart;
His (BJ)steps do not slip.
32 The (BK)wicked spies upon the righteous
And (BL)seeks to kill him.
33 The Lord will (BM)not leave him in his hand
Or (BN)let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 (BO)Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the (BP)wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have (BQ)seen a wicked, violent man
Spreading himself like a (BR)luxuriant [l]tree in its native soil.
36 Then [m]he passed away, and lo, he (BS)was no more;
I sought for him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the [n](BT)blameless man, and behold the (BU)upright;
For the man of peace will have a [o](BV)posterity.
38 But transgressors will be altogether (BW)destroyed;
The [p]posterity of the wicked will be (BX)cut off.
39 But the (BY)salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength (BZ)in time of trouble.
40 (CA)The Lord helps them and delivers them;
He (CB)delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they (CC)take refuge in Him.
5 “I am the Lord, and (A)there is no other;
(B)Besides Me there is no God.
I will [a](C)gird you, though you have not known Me;
6 That [b](D)men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is (E)no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
7 The One (F)forming light and (G)creating darkness,
Causing [c]well-being and (H)creating calamity;
I am the Lord who does all these.
God’s Supreme Power
8 “(I)Drip down, O heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the (J)earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
(K)And righteousness spring up with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to the one who (L)quarrels with his [d]Maker—
An earthenware vessel [e]among the vessels of earth!
Will the (M)clay say to the [f]potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you [g]giving birth?’”
11 Thus says the (N)Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his [h](O)Maker:
“[i](P)Ask Me about the things to come [j]concerning My (Q)sons,
And you shall commit to Me (R)the work of My hands.
12 “It is I who (S)made the earth, and created man upon it.
I (T)stretched out the heavens with My hands
And I [k]ordained (U)all their host.
13 “I have aroused him in (V)righteousness
And I will (W)make all his ways smooth;
He will (X)build My city and will let My exiles go (Y)free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord,
“The [l]products of (Z)Egypt and the merchandise of [m](AA)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will (AB)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in (AC)chains
And will (AD)bow down to you;
They will make supplication to you:
‘[n]Surely, (AE)God is [o]with you, and (AF)there is none else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (AG)hides Himself,
O God of Israel, (AH)Savior!
16 They will be (AI)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The (AJ)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an (AK)everlasting salvation;
You (AL)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
15 Therefore [a]be careful how you (A)walk, not (B)as unwise men but as wise, 16 [b](C)making the most of your time, because (D)the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but (E)understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And (F)do not get drunk with wine, [c]for that is (G)dissipation, but be (H)filled with the Spirit, 19 (I)speaking to [d]one another in (J)psalms and (K)hymns and spiritual (L)songs, (M)singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 (N)always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to [e](O)God, even the Father; 21 [f](P)and be subject to one another in the [g](Q)fear of Christ.
Marriage Like Christ and the Church
22 (R)Wives, (S)be subject to your own husbands, (T)as to the Lord. 23 For (U)the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the (V)head of the church, He Himself (W)being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 (X)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and (Y)gave Himself up for her, 26 (Z)so that He might sanctify her, having (AA)cleansed her by the (AB)washing of water with (AC)the word, 27 that He might (AD)present to Himself the church [h]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be (AE)holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to (AF)love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are (AG)members of His (AH)body. 31 (AI)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to (AJ)love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she [i](AK)respects her husband.
21 And He was saying to them, “(A)A lamp is not brought to be put under a [a]basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 (B)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 (C)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. [b](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 (E)For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
Parable of the Seed
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately [c](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 (G)And He said, “How shall we [d](H)picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that (I)the birds of the [e]air can nest under its shade.”
33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them (J)without a parable; but He was (K)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
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